


The Complex Saviour

by EnsignOrSutin



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Concerning The Ethics Of Sex Pollen, Dubious Consent, F/M, Jokes About Neelix's Cooking, Rough Sex, Sex Pollen, Unrequited Crush, first sexual experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:53:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22247422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnsignOrSutin/pseuds/EnsignOrSutin
Summary: Harry Kim experiences a crisis of intimacy when required to treat Seven of Nine's extreme reaction to an alien toxin.
Relationships: Harry Kim/Seven of Nine
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during earlyish Season 4, after /that/ conversation in the mess hall.

“I know we're asking a lot of you,” Captain Kathryn Janeway said to one of her youngest yet most valuable officers, “but believe me we are only asking. I could never make this an order.” She took her time as she watched him take everything in. “But you should know you were the only one who I even considered when the Doctor explained the situation.”

In the few short years she'd known Ensign Harry Kim, he'd been through a lot. Experience had taught her that through any situation on the bridge he'd be nothing but exemplary, but she also knew it wasn't those experiences which would take their toll. Of all the crew it was him who'd taken being stranded in the Delta Quadrant the hardest; he'd had his whole future with Libby taken away from him, and he'd found very little in the way of personal comfort on board.

“You want me to....” Kim wasn't sure what to say, although his hesitation made it obvious, “...with Seven?” The Captain graciously gave him the time he needed to process it, and ask any questions to help him figure out his answer. “Doesn't she get a say in this?”

“Actually she seemed quite insistent herself, from what the Doctor tells me”, though her reassurance was for her sake as much as for Harry's.

“She was bitten by an animal which the locals consider to be an aphrodisiac when eaten.” The Doctor began to weigh in once more, filling in some of the earlier gaps he'd left out when explaining the more dire circumstances first. “When it comes to human physiology however, that belief is something of an understatement.”

Kim had never dreamt the holographic Doctor would grow to become the individual he was today, something which gave him hope for Seven's own rehabilitation, but even still he wasn't surprised that someone who began life as a medical database hadn't considered the moral quandary to be just as complex as the medical one. “Also I can only hope their usual cooking process is designed to mitigate its potentially fatal effects. Even so, its not something I'd let Neelix loose with once this is all over.”

Kim's eyes were drawn to the specimen cage which the Doctor motioned to, but refused to let the look of the creature inside it distract him. It was typical of the Doctor to be making sarcastic comments at a time like this, which was the one piece of his original programming Kim hoped he'd have outgrown by now.

“And so the treatment you're prescribing is...”

“You. Precisely.” Harry looked on in awe at the Doctor's relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. Like the intimacy he'd longed to give to Seven involved nothing more than a hypospray and a dermal regenerator. “She was bitten at a time when my attempts to kick-start her natural immune system meant that I had to decrease the effectiveness of her nanoprobes. As such there's no way to remove the toxins from Seven's body without them running their course and being purged naturally.”

"Naturally," the nervous Ensign tried to clarify, "as in..."  
  
"As in hormones, endorphins. I'm more than happy to give you the full lecture on how your pheremones react to those of your partner, but it will have to wait until tomorrow, time isn't on our side at the moment."

“I really am sorry to ask this of you Harry” Janeway interrupted, a welcome break from the Doctor's further explanations which, on second thoughts, Kim would rather do without. Unlike the Doctor, Janeway's tone had switched from superior officer to friend and confidante, someone who knew him as part of her family rather than her crew. “I know how you feel about Seven. I know that sometimes what we want can be a curse rather than a blessing if the other person doesn't feel the same way, and I'm sure that this is a situation we'd all rather avoid given the choice.”

“Where is she? Can't I at least talk to her?”

“She's been transported to guest quarters under the guise of a quarantine. We couldn't hide the fact she came back with something, but we're doing what we can to hide what she came back with. If this became shipwide news I'm sure there'd be crewmen lining up to help, but the fact you wouldn't be one of them unfortunately means you're our best candidate.”  
  
“And in answer to your second question”, the Doctor chimed in, “the short answer is no. Even if she was present in the room, she wouldn't exactly be here anyway. At least the person answering your questions wouldn't be the Seven we all know and....”

 _Love?_ , thought Harry as he gave the Doctor a cold stare. Though he hadn't known Seven long enough to go that far, his recent attempt at flirting with her had made the ship's scuttlebutt in double quick time. “You can say it Doc, it's not like it's exactly a secret.” Once more his Captain's discretion had proved that she had a better bedside manner than their Chief Medical Officer, but then not facing up to things wasn't going to make this decision any easier.

“Sedatives had very little effect, so the best course of action was to transport her somewhere alone but comfortable and wait for you to arrive.” the Doctor may have changed the subject back to the dilemma at hand, but he still spoke with the certainty of knowing that Kim would agree, even if his own mind was far from convinced. “Although we'll obviously fill her in” he continued despite the Captain making quite plain her disapproval at his choice of words, “Seven won't actually remember anything from her time under the toxin's influence anyway.”

“And that's supposed to make it better?” Kim wasn't sure if the Doctor genuinely thought that would help, or just make him consider the ramifications even further, but that was the effect it was having. “She was assimilated at the age of six Doc, I'd be taking her virginity and she wouldn't even know?”

“You'd be saving her life” came back the answer, the latest one already prepared for every question he had. “Besides which, there are more things than just sexual intercourse which can break the human hymen if that's something you're worried about.”

Virginity. Sexual intercourse. Though the three of them had been discussing it for a while now, this latest embroilment between him and the Doctor was the first time he had heard any of them say those words out loud. While the fact they were hanging in the air made things more tangible at least, it still didn't make them any more believable. The Doctor was telling him to have sex with Seven.

As a commanding officer, Janeway had grown accustomed to giving orders she knew her crew would take issue with, something she'd come to reflect on even more during the time since she gave the one which had left them stranded on the other side of the Galaxy. Not that she'd have done it any other way, but looking at Kim as he argued with the Doctor she couldn't help but regret it when the burden of those choices fell to those who'd have a harder time making them.

“Ensign Kim,” the Doctor said sharply, grabbing her attention as much as Harry's, “in my attempts to treat Seven I have been made to pay far too handsomely for this very creature in order to study it”, again he motioned towards what looked like a cross between a toad and a scorpion on one of the biobeds “a price, by the way, which was much cheaper when it was Seven who the market trader was interested in giving it to, and I then spent all night studying it's effects on a patient who's immune system is at the lowest it has ever been. Believe me when I say this is the only way.”

As much as he wanted to, Kim could hardly blame this on Janeway or even the Doctor. For all of his algorithmic attitude, if he couldn't find another solution then there really wasn't one to be found. Even so he still couldn't help but feel coerced and he began to pace across sickbay, thinking about Seven. He thought about what he wanted, what he longed for, and what he had dreamed of at night with only himself for company. He also wondered about that night in the mess hall and how much of her willingness to explore her sexuality with him was naivety as much as curiosity. Though Paris had joked about it with him afterwards, he knew that it was more than just his own innocence which meant he'd declined the offer to remove his clothes.

He stared at the creature trapped in its own little enclosure, and soon enough it began to stare back. Kim looked so close that he filled its field of vision, and couldn't tell if it saw him as a predator or prey.  
  
“No choice, you say?” Though his voice was one of resignation through and through, Janeway and the Doctor looked at each other with a sense of relief that they could at least now continue. This wouldn't be an easy fix for anyone, but the sooner it was over, the sooner they could work towards moving on.

“Ok I'll do it”, he tentatively confirmed, “but I'm going to do it my way.”

The relaxed look on the other side of the room became one of confusion as they turned to question the Ensign they believed they could rely on so steadily. Just in time they saw him press the release on the creatures container, and thrust in his whole arm as far as it would go. The Doctor raced forwards in his direction, but couldn't get there before it was too late. Whatever the creature was it had already sunk it's razorlike teeth in to the Ensign's arm, who cried out in defiant agony.


	2. Chapter 2

The sleeping quarters she had been confined to may have been designated as belonging to guests, but Seven felt like anything but. Pcaing the carpet she felt its delicate fibres beneath her feet; although it was a pleasant texture, the fact that she could feel it at all only served as a reminder of how exposed she was without any of her specially constructed garments. Without any garments at all.

She was angry. And eager. The Doctor's explanation of her situation, and that her 'treatment' was being organised, had done nothing to calm her down. She had also lost track of how much time it had been since she'd been put here, and that disturbed her methodical mind even more. The plain and innocuous vases designed not to clash with any culture's aesthetic had instead clashed with Seven's arms – and then the wall – as she waited. Even the shards of the table they'd been placed on had found a new resting place in the corner as she tried to figure out what she needed.

As a former drone she'd once had access to the memories – and desires – of billions of individuals, but now separated from any form of order all she had was a collection of unfocused thoughts. Strained images of other women sitting on top of men, or under them with their weight bearing down. Some who had adapted their female partners with prosthetic appendages, but Seven found it difficult to attach any kind of feelings to them.

She turned as soon as she heard the transporter, and her eyes locked on Ensign Harry Kim who now stood in front of the doorway, reminding her it would be sealed for as long as the quarantine protocol was required. He was wearing the attire of a medical patient and she could only assume that his own time with the Doctor was more than just explanatory. She filed away the dressing on his right arm as a weakness should she need to exploit it later.

“Ensign Kim, your body is required.” Her voice had regained an iciness not heard since before her separation from the collective; undeniably hers, but essentially controlled by an unseen force. “Your cooperation is not.”

Kim's eyes were transfixed at the naked beauty walking towards him. She had been naturally gifted with what all Borg seek to acquire as her biological distinctiveness was perfection. He was enchanted by her bountiful breasts, swaying with the rhythm of her walk, until she put her hands on his chest and began to rip away his shirt.

She was startled as her usually placid colleague placed his arms around her as she did so, his hands grabbing at her behind while he forced his lips against hers. She tried to pull away in shock, but his grip remained steady. Adding to the confusion she was already feeling, she was not expecting such… resistance? While she could not say he was failing to comply, she had not anticipated things wouldn't go according to her own will. As soon as she could work out what that was.

“The Doc said whatever this was would have quite the effect.” He could hear himself gloating, and though it didn't sound like him, he didn't let that stop him either. “No Borg strength means no getting your own way.” He brought one hand to the back of her head and pressed her lips against his. The other still beyond her hips, he slid his fingers between her cheeks, and began to probe the reaches of her wet loins.

She freed herself from his grip, but instantly missed his touch. “My strength may no longer be superior, but do not think I am weak.” She fully removed his torn shirt from his torso to prove her point. “Nor am I yours” she continued as she felt her heart race even faster at the sight of his bare chest.

“Evenly matched, I can deal with that” he asserted, as he poured his eyes all over her naked body once more. “This must be pretty new to you though?” he asked. While she couldn't deny the disorienting fog still permeating her perception, she refused to let it show. “How about I ease you in gently?” he asked, though the look on his face revealed that 'gentle' was far from his intentions.  
  
Kim embraced her once more, his tongue penetrating her mouth but to little obstruction, and his hands on her arms as he marched her backwards to the sofa. He'd wanted her from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her, and now she was naked in front of him his desire was burning.

He pushed her down and spread her legs as she fell onto the cushioned couch and he knelt down in front of her. She was finally his, and he wouldn't let it be over too soon. He thought of how the Doctor said there'd be no memory from his time under the influence, but he refused to believe it so ultimately. The longer he was here, the more memories he made, the better the chance some would remain. He dug his hands into Seven's thighs and pulled her towards himself, he bent down further as her legs parted around him and his mouth found her demanding lips.

Seven fought the urge to stand. this didn't quite feel right, but it didn't feel wrong either. The sensations of his tongue between her legs were invigorating, and though she refused to be so passive she wanted it to continue. Her hands made her way to his head and she buried his face in her hips which were thrusting towards him.

Harry lapped her up, and enjoyed the feeling of her wet sweetness at his lips just as much as she enjoyed him being there. His tongue was a frenzy as it zigzagged her clit, darting backwards and forth unleashing waves of pleasure she had never before experienced. She began to moan and, no longer fighting him, he brought his hands up and began to grope her heaving bosom.

His palms squeezed her breasts together and his fingers squeezed her nipples, Seven instinctively brought her hands to his and held them against her. It was his choice to stimulate as much of her as he could, but only she would decide when he'd stop. Kim's enthusiasm doubled, and with all the passion he'd been saving for Libby, began sucking on Seven's clit. He fell into the performance of kissing her wet loins and all thoughts of anyone else had vanished.

Seven revelled in his intensity which was stirring her own, stirring her forward and against Kim's restraining as she pulled his hands away from her chest. She let them go but before he had time to return them she had pushed herself off the sofa. She lifted her hips, so that her crotch pushed him back. He was forced to bend behind him until he lay flat on the floor, Seven's hips hovering so close Kim was dominated by her scent as much as body, and her will. She was knelt over him now, and lowered herself so that his face was now bearing the full brunt of her primal desires he continued to satisfy.

Unable to move under her weight, he brought his hands back to her body and once more found the nipples which were as hard as her demeanour. Though he did so more for his own gratification than hers, the fact that Seven continued to straddle him – restricting as it was – seemed to confirm her enjoyment.

He scratched one hand down her chest and brought it to her clit in place of his tongue. He fought to regain his breath but continued to stimulate his partner who leant back to give him better access. She relished every piece of him that made contact with her, and the firmness of his hand at her breast was still dictated by her own.

She sank into his deep exhalations against her damp vagina, but was snapped from her reverie when he began to bite the insides of her thigh. She spread her legs further to experience more of his animal nature, and brought her hands down to spread her full weight down his body.

Still longing for more but enthralled by these unfamiliar sensations, her hands stumbled to find their new support. She felt Kim's hard cock twitch underneath the thin material of his trousers. Not wanting to let go she leaned onto it as her other hand found its purchase on his thighs which gave her the freedom to play.

She allowed Kim to continue his ministrations as he alternated between pleasing her with his tongue and his thumb, and the sensations reached further through her body as she exposed the newly discovered marvel she had to hand. Kim raised his hips and scrambled his hands to his trousers, pulling them down enough to remove all obstacles from Seven fully examining his hard cock which was yearning for attention.

She began to explore but soon found the angle to be frustrating. In conjunction with the slickness it was producing she was unable to get a grip that was sufficient.

“This is futile” she exclaimed, her iciness replaced with her obvious frustration “but you will continue while I adapt.” Though he technically outranked her this was one order he was happy to follow. She'd been on board for only a matter of weeks, yet it seemed to Harry as though he'd wanted her forever, and if she wanted better access to him, there was no where he'd rather be than with his tongue between her swollen lips.

Seven turned herself around and though Harry's tongue still caressed her, she found that his new concentrating on her opening was a different sensation. Not as intense, but one which spurred her desire to discover Harry's own sexual organs now that she had the chance. Though she had more knowledge about their anatomy than every male on board, knowing exactly what to do with it was still something a mystery, but one she was more than happy to pursue.

Her hand reached forward and instinctively grabbed it, her fist surrounding its hard flesh as she found just the right pressure to squeeze it with. Doing so she found it produced yet more lubrication, and she soon wiped her slippery hand against Kim's thigh. Though she found its elusiveness to be troublesome, she also felt something inside her grow.

But the more she felt this feeling inside of her, the more she felt she needed filling, and without thinking took him directly into her mouth. With her grip still tight on his shaft she began to feed herself, and developed a rhythm of devouring more of him, but easing off when she got too far. Not wanting to let him out of her vice she found the most efficient way of clearing what he was extruding was to swallow, and Harry basked in the thrill of his dream come true with Seven sat on his face whilst sucking on his dick.

Harry leant his head back against the floor. Though his heightened drive had spurred him on, his tongue required rest from its exertion, and this was the perfect time to recover. Seven continued her oral massage, distracted by the fullness of him inside of her, but soon became enraged as she noticed the pleasure of her other sensations diminish.

“Why have you ceased?” The yearning inside of her reaching new heights, as though the lack of Harry's attention had left her so close to an answer that was now out of reach. She brought her hand from his dick to his arm, and squeezed his bandage even harder.

Harry screamed in pain and cursed the Doctor for thinking its treatment could wait. Lashing out he shoved Seven's body from his own, and began to shake out the lingering pain. He brought up his other arm to wipe Seven's juices from his mouth and chin, and stared at her with a new found anger in his eyes.

She leapt back and placed her body atop his once more, straddled him between her hips with her face inches away from his as she made her intentions known. “You are here for my benefit, not your own.”The pair looked into each other's eyes and saw their anger and lust reflected back at themselves. Seven felt the eagerness of his cock as it jerked beneath her weight, and she began to lift herself. Lining herself up to fill her loins with his stature, he used this opportunity to push her over once more, and pinned her to the floor instead.

“Oh, I'd find that very beneficial I'm afraid, so I guess that makes it off limits.” Harry craved the satisfaction of being fully inside her, but if using her own logic against her in their struggle for dominance allowed their competition to continue, then so be it.

Their naked bodies were outstretched next to each other and they could feel each other's heat against their skin. Harry began to kiss her once more, forcing Seven to confront her own taste which lingered on his tongue. She pulled her mouth away from his and began to protest, but could only manage a short gasp as he thrust two fingers inside of her.

She finally gave up her efforts to outdo Harry, and accepted his control as she felt filled in a way she never had previously. She nudged her hips further in his direction in an attempt to take him deeper, and felt her pleasure deepen as he curled against her inner walls. Harry delighted at watching her face, and her reactions to the way he manipulated her. As her breathing intensified he brought his eyes to her heaving breasts before lowering his face between them.

He began to bite her skin, harder than he had before. The suppleness of her breasts allowed them to sway in his teeth before he found a new spot to latch on to. He toyed with them equally, from one to the other until his mouth finally found a nipple. His fingers still digging deep, he brought his thumb to caress her clit as he also began to suck. Seven found herself in a rapturous place, and sunk into Harry's supremacy until his force finally gave her the ultimate fulfilment.

The waves that Seven had been feeling throughout her body began to surge, and her hips began to spasm. She felt something she could only describe as a release when her muscles contracted, and though they began to wane, Harry's attention was just as furious as ever.

Despite all his efforts up to now, the sound of Seven moaning in surprised ecstasy was enough to finally tempt Harry into his most primal urges. He removed his fingers from inside Seven, and held his shaft to guide his tip between her lips. He quickly let go as he was able to use just his hips to glide his cock inside her ready and willing pussy.

Seven inhaled slowly as the feeling of savouring his girth soon encompassed his length as well. Her body still coming down from it's climax, she desperately wanted more as Harry started to find his rhythm.

“Now that you've eased yourself in,” Seven urged him between finding her breaths, “you no longer need to be gentle.” She looked him in the eye and begged him to again lift her up to the elation his body had just given to hers.

For four years he'd thought of his girlfriend, his ex-girlfriend, and all the men she must have screwed since he last saw her, those who consoled her grieving in the bedroom, and the rebounds she'd used to get over him. Now all that fury was channelled into fucking the exquisite Venus beneath him.

Seven's voice grew louder as her inhibitions slipped away. Harry put an arm round her neck to give himself more purchase against her hips, and her body was cradled in his arms. Glowed with his heat. Filled by his presence.

The levels of Harry's euphoria soon began to reach those of hers, and he prepared himself with a final burst of energy. His climax sent surges of pleasure through his body as much as the cum which rushed into Seven's. She let out one final moan as she felt the warmth of his ejaculation reach even deeper than she thought possible, and then his heavy breathing against hers as he rested on her chest.

Seven felt herself relax. Though her needs were beginning to fade, she still felt a deep-seated desire for something more. She helped Kim as he sluggishly pulled himself free of her persuasive hold, and slumped down beside her. He looked wearily into her eyes as he placed an arm round her chest and rolled into the curve of her body.

With her mind and body now filled in by the answers they were desperately seeking, she looked at Kim as he lay there beside her. Thoughts of the type she was accustomed to began to gradually resurface, but now it was her desire for a more vocal interaction which remained unfulfilled as she noticed the state of the man at her side. With few options left, she too lay there and began to recuperate from her ordeal.

*****

“You're sure they're asleep?”

“Of course I'm sure, I can decipher these readings quicker than you can read 'The Cat Sat on the Mat', but if you wanted a second opinion then maybe you shouldn't have deactivated the visual feed from the internal sensors.”

Janeway figured there was no coming back from that one, at least none which allowed the Doctor to continue performing his duties, so she threw her hands to the air in submission.

“Fine, they're asleep” she conceded, her ire at the ordeal more than obvious, though she was glad that the most precarious part was over. She reached for her commbadge and proceeded to end it completely, “Janeway to transporter room one, initiate medical transport procedure Alpha.” She tapped it for a second time to issue her subsequent order almost as quickly as she did the first, “Janeway to Tuvok, stand down all quarantine protocols in guest quarters.”

She noticed the brightness of the transporter fading as the beaming of her two crewmembers completed itself, and immediately turned away when she noticed their condition. Each took up a bed along the sickbay wall, both naked, and Kim lying in a position that left nothing to the imagination. They were both breathing heavily, but obviously fast asleep. The Doctor moved past as he made his way in their direction and began to hum Puccini's Madame Butterfly to himself. He was getting on with his work, and so she gladly left him to it.


	3. Chapter 3

“A simple transfusion? Come on Harry, you'll have to do better than that” Tom Paris demanded suspiciously as the two of them found a table in the mess hall. Combined with the fact that his best friend was out of uniform and recuperating from something, finishing a double shift due to both his and Seven's absence did nothing to diminish his curiosity.

“I never said it was simple,” Harry retorted as he sat down. “Trust me the Doc threatened to give me a full lecture on all the details, but then I'd just need another whole day off duty.”

“You're not gonna tell me, are you?”

“Nuh uh” mumbled Harry who was digging into his meal as though he'd just completed a full marathon, and then kept going. Paris held his usual reserve however, and sat down in resignation at the meal he placed on the table.

“And here was me thinking this far past the Nekrit Expanse and we might actually see something new in Neelix's cooking by now.”

“I like it” Harry responded with a mouth full of leola root burrito. Truthfully though, he was just glad that Tom had changed the subject. He was the one person he could go to with anything, and hated that he couldn't vent about the one thing he needed to. Tom was also rather good at knowing when he was lying, and now he no longer needed to skirt the issue either.

Tom began to pick his meal apart, and refolded what was left of his first tortilla, ignoring the healthy serving of its former contents on the side of his plate. Much like everyone else who knew Harry, Tom was worried that his crush on Seven could easily become infatuation; his homesickness was often more than he let on, which opened the door to looking for comfort in all the wrong places. Speaking as a nurse though, the fact that Harry would have no trouble respecting Seven's right to patient confidentiality was one of the things that Tom admired about him most.

Begrudgingly, he let that particular mystery slide as Harry swallowed his last mouthful and couldn't help but suppress a small burp. Tom took a sip from his drink to help wash down the taste of his second, and figured it was just as likely to be his last as well.

“Sickbay to Ensign Kim, Seven wishes to speak with you.” The sound of the Doctor's voice caught Harry by surprise, and he instinctively gave a look to his best friend across the table as he brought a greasy finger to his commbadge and responded to the summons.

“Don't worry about me Harry, as far as I'm concerned that conversation's just as over as my dinner.”

“Thanks” Harry said, standing, “you know I appreciate it” and picked up Tom's untouched burrito from between the remanants of the first as he made his way to the door.

“Well at least someone's gonna enjoy it.” Tom said to himself, finishing off his drink as he sat by himself.

****

As the turbolift reached its destination, Harry found himself thinking how quickly the doors insisted on opening in front of him. It wasn't that he didn't want to speak to Seven, far from it, but if it wasn't for her then Sickbay was really one part of the ship he'd like to avoid at all costs for the foreseeable future.

Though Seven had still been sedated, she was the first thing Harry had looked for when he was woken by the Doctor, and more than just hazy his memory of anything after crying out in pain was non-existent. It had hardly been an hour since, or at least since the Doctor had finally discharged him after an all to vivid description of how long it would take for his body to recover, yet looking back he could have thought he'd merely dreamt of a bite which had woken him it was so surreal. He arrived at Sickbay itself, and made a mental note to check with B'Elanna that the doors really weren't opening too quickly.

“Well I see your ordeal did nothing to harm your appetite” the Doctor observed as he eyed the stains around Harry's mouth.

“Hmm? Oh, thanks.”

“She's over there, but you'll have to be quick." Harry saw her beginning to prop herself up on the biobed the Doctor pointed to, and thought it was strange to see her, or at least for the first time he would remember, out of her usual catsuit but instead wearing a standard medical gown. "Her body was infected for a lot longer than yours, so it will also take her body longer than yours to recover.”

Harry made his way over to Seven, but kept an eye out for the creature which had been the cause of all this. Luckily the Doctor had removed it from view at least, but then again not knowing where it was almost put him on edge even more. Maybe he should give it to Neelix after all, Harry thought. At least then Tom would be pleased enough just to have some variety.

“The Doctor has explained to me everything that transpired since my infection", Seven said as she sat herself up on her biobed. "Since we will continue to work closely together I wanted to make sure that what we did will not affect our productivity.” Forward as always, Seven finished her statement before Harry had even sat down next to her, but responded as he did so.

“You mean you don't want things to get awkward?” he asked, trying to hide his amusement at her being far more human than she'd ever give herself credit for. “Well I'm sure we're not the first colleagues to wake up together and have no idea what happened the night before.” He couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the situation.

Though she was glad to have woken up to the Doctor's explanation with complete privacy, she also felt that there was something missing on top of her disorientation at the whole ordeal. Hearing Harry talk about waking up 'together' after performing something so close, and energetic if her current state was anything to go by, gave her an idea as to what that could be.

“It is obvious that you consider me more desirable than other members of the crew, and so it is curious that you subjected yourself to the infection. You could have retained the memories of last night, and yet you specifically chose not to. In the most painful way.” Seven looked at her hand which she flexed out in front of her. It seemed fine to Harry, but he was also all too aware that their bite marks were the least of their worries.

“Trust me, the bite from that thing was still less painful than it would have been for me to experience something you hadn't chosen or wouldn't even remember. Like you said before, sexuality is complex. Just because....” like their discussion in the mess hall some time ago, once more he struggled to find the right words. “Just because my pupils dilate when I look at your body,” he tried as he continued, the conversation taking everything he had to maintain strict eye contact, “it doesn't mean I want to copulate under any and all circumstances.”

Maybe using Seven's own words wasn't the best approach considering Seven's expression seemed to display the internal cringing he felt himself, and he decided it best to try something different.

“Being naked with someone, for me at least, isn't just about seeing each other naked. Being naked with someone is special because it's about them letting you see them naked. And vice versa.”

Seven showed more signs of understanding, which gave him the confidence to continue. “I can't deny that what we seem to have done is something I've wanted to do with you for a while.” Harry was suddenly very aware of himself suspended between his thighs in his loose civvies, “but only if you wanted to do it just as much as I did too.”

“Did I not make my intentions clear enough when we were in the mess hall?” Seven asked, also deciding that alluding to that night's conversation was better than repeating it verbatim.

“Oh you made yourself fairly clear all right,” Kim's heart began to beat a little bit faster as he remembered that shock he had not been expecting, “although for one thing, there's a time and a place for removing clothes which doesn't include the mess hall, but mostly it was that your intentions weren't quite compatible with mine.”

“And that is why you felt the need to infect yourself prior to joining me?”

“Something like that, yeah”

“While I still consider it an unnecessary and needlessly painful prerequisite, I do at least appreciate your compulsion for doing so.” Harry smiled at the thought of getting through to Seven, though tried not to dwell on it too much. “Although I do not believe it was as entirely self-centred as you make out.”

Exhaling deeply as he waited for her to continue, Harry resigned himself to the fact that even in matters she knew nothing about, Seven was still the most astute member of _Voyager_ 's crew.

“From your description, you believe that seeing someone naked is something one earns, extending from friendship.”

“No,” Harry spontaneously replied, cutting off Seven before she could continue. “Well yeah. Kinda” he continued, backtracking on his outburst which he'd cultivated from overcoming years of unrequited crushes on close friends, and the contradicting desires which came with them. “Things can and often do start out as friendships, but that doesn't mean there's any kind of obligation to developing them any further.”

“I have noticed that several crew members equate their sexuality with intimacy, even with deeply emotional connections. You believe that my own sexuality is not something I should explore so casually.” Harry couldn't deny what Seven had said was true, and his face did nothing to hide it either. “As such I also believe that your motives were more than just to protect your own emotional needs, but also that you wanted to protect what you consider to be my, innocence, as well.”

“You might think that innocence is irrelevant, but I guess I'm always gonna be old fashioned like that” Harry conceded, and shrugged at her not knowing what else to say. Inwardly he did the same to himself, knowing as he should have that he really couldn't keep anything from her.

“Through the process of assimilation, the Borg would instantly replace or upgrade anything which became obsolete, but there were many things which had an increased longevity due to their continued optimal functioning.” Whether it was his fascination or just their time spent working together, Harry was one of the first crewmembers to acclimatise to Seven's predilection of translating all her new experiences into Borg. Everything was new to her after all, and it made it sense to relate things to what she knew. “Perhaps things which you consider to be 'old fashioned' remain in operation for a reason, and I should consider them more closely?”

“It wouldn't be your individuality if someone else told you how to rediscover it" Harry tried to conclude, "but if my experiences can help give you more ways of looking at different options, then I hope that's no bad thing.” He left it there, and was grateful when Seven seemed satisfied with his answer.

While he would have preferred this whole thing not to have taken place, he was at least glad to have this chat which seemed to bring them closer together as friends rather than mere colleagues cataloguing spatial phenomena in previously uncharted territory. He was thankful for that, and under the circumstances couldn't ask for anything thing more.

Seven noticed the Doctor silently attracting her attention through his office window as he waved a hypospray in her direction. “I apologise for calling you in here so briefly, but the Doctor must continue the recovery of my immune system.” She held up a single finger to indicate she still needed a moment to speak with Kim, and the Doctor begrudgingly busied himself once more with the medications he was preparing for her.

“Before you go,” Harry had made it to a standing position from the chair, but returned to face her at her final request, “The Doctor tells me that my condition was potentially fatal.” She made sure the Doctor was still preoccupied with his trolley as she parted her gown to reveal her breasts, and Harry couldn't believe his eyes at the sight, and memory he would this time retain.

“As such, I believe this is a sufficient and fitting way to thank you for saving my life.” Harry was left speechless as Seven covered herself once more and the Doctor made his way to his patient.

“I look forward to the astrometrics lab becoming fully operational. I trust you can complete the final tests yourself and will be at the celebration the Captain has requested upon its completion?” Her voice returned to its business as usual inflection as the oblivious Doctor began running yet more scans.  
  
“Of course,” Harry answered, his nervousness from that night returning, and his gaze still focused on Seven's chest, “I'll see you,” he brought his eyes up to meet hers, “I mean I'll meet you, there.” He nodded curtly to the Doctor and as he made his hasty exit he decided the speed of the doors was fine after all; the position of his hands making sure neither the Doctor nor Seven noticed that this current function had returned much sooner than expected.


End file.
